Capenergie 5: a historic milestone in the support we provide to entrepreneurs
Europe’s urgent need to develop the independent power producers of tomorrow strengthens Omnes’ role as a major player in this sector. Omnes’ unique and high-quality deal flow has been rewarded with the success of Capenergie 5, which greatly exceeded its target size and has attracted €1.5 billion of commitments. This bodes well for the future Capenergie 6.
“Our novel strategy of investing in the green energy champions of tomorrow has proven even more appealing than we anticipated, attracting a record amount of subscriptions.”
What was the background to Capenergie 5?
Serge Savasta: Capenergie 5 is the fifth vintage of our renewable energy funds, a journey we started 17 years ago. Since 2006, Omnes has supported a vast network of developers across the European Union, with the aim of turning them into leading IPPs. They are the industry leaders of tomorrow. Capenergie 5 is following the same strategy, which we have developed patiently over a long period of time.
“So far, we have collected €1.5 billion. This is the first time in Omnes’ history that any of our funds has broken through the €1 billion barrier. We help entrepreneurs meet their growing need for capital, and that’s what led us to create a fund of this size.”
What is the Capenergie strategy?
Michael Pollan: We approach renewable energy through partnerships, joining forces with entrepreneurs rather than selecting one-off infrastructure projects. We often acquire majority stakes and work with the entrepreneurs in question over a number of years, giving rise to dozens of projects.
Marc-Philippe Botte: We have made more than 60 investments in renewable energy companies across Europe through four funds that have delivered the best returns in their category. Together, the Capenergie funds’ portfolio companies have a total pipeline of 1381 individual projects in 18 countries with combined capacity of 66.9 GW, and the list is growing. Our strategy also includes repowering, which involves modernizing a power plant, improving its efficiency and rated capacity, while also delivering cost savings.
Where is the Capenergie 5 with its funding?
Serge Savasta: So far, we have collected €1.5 billion. Capenergie 5 has performed extraordinarily well in Europe. In less than a year, we attracted over €1 billion of commitments. This is the first time in Omnes’ history that any of our funds has broken through the €1 billion barrier. Not only have we reached this historic milestone, but we have also exceeded our target size. We help entrepreneurs meet their growing need for capital, and that’s what led us to create a fund of this size.
Marc-Philippe Botte: As part of our commitment to supporting
companies in the Capenergie 5 portfolio, we have added two new
co-investment vehicles: Omnes co-invest CCE and Omnes co-invest
Turn Energy. We have also decided to fundraise beyond the European
Union, which we started to do in Autumn 2023 in North America,
Australia and Asia.
What have been the Capenergie 5 fund’s first investments ?
Michael Pollan: We have already started investing in several innovative companies like Turn Energy, a major Swedish solar photovoltaic developer; CCE Holding, an Austrian/German IPP with a pan-European portfolio; Faria Renewables, a photo-voltaic developer; Enova Value 2.0, a German onshore wind repowering joint venture with established developer Enova; and Integrum Renewable Energy, a solar photovoltaic and integrated battery storage developer based in the UK.
Marc-Philippe Botte: As part of our commitment to supporting
companies in the Capenergie 5 portfolio, we have added two new
co-investment vehicles: Omnes co-invest CCE and Omnes co-invest
Turn Energy. We have also decided to fundraise beyond the European
Union, which we started to do in Autumn 2023 in North America,
Australia and Asia.
“Together, the Capenergie funds’ portfolio companies have a total pipeline of 1381 individual projects in 18 countries with a combined capacity of 66.9 GW, and the list is growing.”
What kind of investors does Capenergie 5 have?
Marc-Philippe Botte: Capenergie 5 has attracted both existing and new investors from France and abroad. Although the fundraising environment is difficult, we have never raised so much money so quickly, and never from such a large and prestigious group of institutional investors across Europe, including AG Insurance, AkademikerPension, Bpifrance, Caisses du Crédit Agricole, Golding Capital Partners and Industriens Pension. In addition, our investors include other French and European insurance companies, pension funds, foundations, funds of funds and family offices.
Initially, we were aiming for tickets of €100-150 million. But in the end our investors invested smaller amounts of €50-75 million, which allowed us to diversify our client base. The wide variety of investors who have placed their trust in our Capenergie funds has led to cross-fertilization with our other funds. We are seeing this with our Deeptech fund ORT2 and our Sustainable Cities fund Construction Energie Plus 2, where the vast majority of LPs first invested with Omnes through our Capenergie funds.
Aside from your unique investment strategy, what else makes you stand out?
Michael Pollan: Our approach is strongly people-centric, and we give
consistent support to entrepreneurs in a renewable energy market that is often opportunistic. That strategy has a direct positive impact on local economies and job creation.Serge Savasta: In addition, Omnes is a highly international firm, with 16 different nationalities represented in our team, and this enables us to support entrepreneurs all over Europe.
First published in Scope Spring 2024